Pepperdine Lands 2014 Forward A.J. John
By Josh Horton
Jan 21, 2012, Malibu, CA, USA; Pepperdine Waves fans react during the game against the BYU Cougars at Firestone Fieldhouse. BYU defeated Pepperdine 77-64. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports
Per his twitter account, class of 2014 power forward A.J. John (Maria Carillo High School, Santa Rosa, Calif.) has verbally committed to Pepperdine University.
John passed up offers from UC Davis, Cal Poly, and Colgate to play for Marty Wilson and the Waves, according to verbal commits.
John is the second commitment in the 2014 class for Wilson and the Waves, joining three star forward Nate Gehring.
Pepperdine is going the opposite route of most schools in the WCC, and establishing its future frontcourt rather than a future backcourt like Gonzaga and San Francisco are doing.
Not a great deal of information can be found on John, but it looks as if his recruitment was gaining ground during the summer. This excerpt was found off a website called “West Coast Hoops”
"“Big body, fairly good strength, moves very well, can post and score with no-jump hook, can face up and shoot the 3, has an ok short drive.”"
Combined with Gehring, this future Pepperdine front-court could be lethal. Both players have very high ceilings, and have the potential to develop into very solid players. John’s will not be launched into big minutes immediately, as starting Pepperdine power forward Stacy Davis will still have two years of eligibility remaining. Johns will have time to mature as a player, which would be highly beneficial to a player like him.